An Assassin Among Shinobi
by Soleneus
Summary: Ezio's time in his world is over, and now he must teach another the ways of the Assassins. How will this change the Naruto world? And just who will be changed by these events?
1. Chapter 1

An Assassin Among Shinobi

"_Human, your time is over. The part you have played is important, but now, you are no longer needed. Not here. There is another who will play an important role in his world, and he lacks the means to change himself for the better. That is where you come in. You will be his mentor, and his master. Say goodbye to this world, Ezio Auditore."_

"_What do you mean? Who are you? How do you know my name?"_

"_There is no time for questions, human. Just know this. This world is not the only one to exist. Many people called me Mars. Or, as I am known in the other world, the Kyuubi no Yoko."_

…

A bright light flashed in the alleyway, and a man appeared. He wore strange robes, a wide leather belt with a strange emblem on the front, a crossbow on his back, along with a curved blade in a leather sheath; a thin sword with a flying eagle for a hilt, and light metal armor covering his chest, shoulders, hands, and shins.

He pushed his hood back with a groan, revealing grey-white hair covering his head and chin in a beard, a scar over his lip. He spoke with a strange accent.

"Ahh, it has been so long since I've been in these robes. My old bones aren't meant for this kind of travel." He looked around, taking in his surroundings with brown eyes. "Now, where is this child I'm supposed to look after? I don't think he would just run into me…" He was cut off by a child, running from something, fearfully looking over his shoulder, running straight into him, and falling over.

Ezio looked at the child in front of him, feeling a sense of irony. The kid in front of him had bright, yellow-blonde hair, and cerulean eyes. It was the child he was looking for.

But there was something wrong. The ground shook slightly, and the kid looked at him in fear. A man holding a torch slid into the alley's mouth, spotting the kid and shouting, "I found the Demon!" More people came into the mouth of the alley, gathering into a crowd and advancing toward the kid.

The kid, Naruto, scrambled to his feet and hid behind Ezio, shaking. Ezio looked towards the crowd and back to Naruto, spotting a rapidly fading bruise on his face and the dried blood on his shirt. Making the connections, he faced the crowd with steel in his eyes, and a smile on his face.

"Hello! What are a group of you fine people doing out on a night such as this?" He asked. One of the men in the group stepped forward, and pointed at Naruto.

"We've come for the Demon! For too long he has masqueraded as a human, and now, we are going to finish what the Fourth started!"

Ezio looked back down at Naruto, back up, smile still present. "Oh? I see no demon, just a child. You must be looking in the wrong place!"

The crowd seemed to shake their heads as one, someone shouting, "There is no child, but a demon in human skin! Don't let him fool you!"

Naruto shook as the crowd advanced, torches ready. Ezio slipped a hand into a hidden pouch underneath his robes, and flicked a round device at the ground in front of him.

It exploded into a cloud of smoke, and, when it dissipated, Naruto and Ezio were nowhere to be found.

…

"What do you mean, you cannot find Naruto! Search the whole village, every squad with a Hyuuga and an Inuzuka! And if you can't find him by morning, I will strip you of your rank!"

The ANBU nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke. The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat back in his chair with a sigh. "Oh, Naruto. Where have you gone?" He murmured to himself.

"Nice to see someone cares for him."

The Third shot up in his seat, kunai flying out of his sleeve towards the intruder.

Ezio's hand flew up and caught the knife, stopping it a few inches from his face. "A good a way to greet someone as any, I suppose." He said in a dead-pan voice.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" The Third demanded, not letting the surprise he felt be shown on his face.

Ezio pulled Naruto off his shoulder, where he was sleeping. "Do you have somewhere I can put Naruto? I'd like him to get some sleep on something that isn't my shoulder."

Hiruzen stood and pushed a button underneath his desk. A wall slid back, revealing a simple bed. Ezio laid Naruto down on the bed and covered him in the blanket, and turned to Hiruzen. They both sat, The Third behind his desk, and Ezio in front of it.

"Now, my name is Ezio Auditore da Firenze. And I am not of this world…"

…

**The Next Night…**

"Hey, E-Ezio-jiji, what did you tell jiji to let me go with you?" Naruto asked, carrying a backpack on his back, walking next to Ezio out of the main gate of Konoha.

Ezio replied looking down at Naruto and winking. "I lied. Lied through my teeth. I told him that I would be taking you around the countries for a about a year, hopefully giving the civilians in this place time to cool down. But I lied. I'm going to teach you. I'm going to teach you how to be an assassin, as well as a 'ninja'. I asked for some books on…chakra control, and those should help you in the long run. But from me, you will be learning the art of assassination."

Naruto looked up at Ezio, wide-eyed. "R-really? You would do that for me?"

Ezio smiled down at him. "Yes, of course." His smile grew as Naruto flying-tackle hugged him, crying happily.

"Now, the first place we need to go is called 'Iwa'. They have an understanding of minerals that we could use."

The old man and the kid walked out of the village, Ezio teaching Naruto about the Creed as he did.

"Now, there are three parts to the Assassin's Creed. First…"

…

**A/N: *Sigh* This is never gonna end, is it?**

**Well, tell me how you liked it anyway!**

**It's my take on an Assassin's Creed and Naruto x-over. Ezio is currently 65 in this beginning, and Naruto is eight.**

**Well, until next time,**

**Keep Being Awesome!**

**-Sol**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: The Triumphant (Not Really) Return.

**Years Later…**

The Gates of Konoha are an impressive thing. They are tall, wide, and imposing. A perfect deterrent to anyone looking to invade.

Except for one.

As soon as the two guards, Kotetsu and Izumo, if he remembered correctly, fell asleep, a figure enveloped in shadows sprinted towards the wall, running up the first few feet and climbing rapidly with his hands.

Reaching the top, the figure jumped over, caught a hand hold on his way down, and descended as rapidly as he had climbed. He hit the ground, then turned and ran into the bushes, Izumo and Kotetsu unaware as ever.

The figure walked down the street, cutting through the crowds gently, heading straight towards the tallest tower in the skyline. He reached the base of the tower and looked around, making sure he wasn't being watched. He began to climb the tower, finding small handholds in the wall and exploiting them. He reached a window in the top of the tower, and peered inside.

…

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. it had been years since that day when Naruto left with a strange old man named Ezio, promising to be back in a year.

When Naruto hadn't come back and any trace of him and Ezio vanished off the face of the earth, Hiruzen had assumed he was dead, to the great joy of the Civilian Council.

Their joy was short lived, however, when, without reason to keep it a secret anymore, he had revealed Naruto's heritage to the public.

They had held a funeral the next week. Several people had been in attendance, namely the Hyuuga patriarch, Hiashi, and his daughter, Hinata. Hinata had cried herself to hysteria by that point, telling the Third tearfully that she had watched Naruto since the first year of the academy, even giving him gifts secretly.

Also in attendance were many of the civilians who had never touched Naruto, along with the owner of Ichiraku's. Secretly attending were an ANBU in a dog mask and a purple haired chunin.

Rubbing his face tiredly, Hiruzen tried to pry his thoughts away from memories of the hyper-active knucklehead.

He froze as he felt a pair of eyes watching him. Secretly looking around with his hand covering his face, he spotted a pair of bright blue eyes watching him from underneath a beaked hood at his window.

He sighed, and called out, "Come out from my window, whoever you are. If you are an assassin, you are doing a poor job."

"That is not what my targets would have said, jiji."

Hiruzen's eyes snapped up, narrowing furiously on the youth standing before him, in a somewhat familiar looking blue robe. "What did you call me?" He growled.

The youth seemed taken aback by the killing intent being directed at him by the old man. "What, jiji? I've always called you that. Why are you so surprised? It's not like I'm dead or anything, though several people wish I am." The youth muttered.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes on the youth, saying quietly, "Take off your hood."

The youth looked up at his hood, and shook his head. "I forgot that I still had this thing on! And I wanted to scare you and everything!"

He flipped his hood back, and Hiruzen gasped. Standing before him, tall and undoubtedly alive, was Naruto. Naruto, wearing robes and several weapons, but still Naruto.

"Naruto!"

Hiruzen jumped up from his seat and rushed around his desk, grabbing Naruto in a fierce, crushing hug.

"O…old man! Can't breathe!" Naruto gasped out. Hiruzen quickly let go of him, but still kept his hands on his shoulders.

"Naruto! How are you still alive? Everyone thought you dead after you vanished!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "WHAT? EVERYONE THINKS I'M DEAD!"

Hiruzen nodded sadly. "Yes, we had a funeral and everything. Your tombstone is in the graveyard." He shook Naruto. "But that is not important. What is important is that you are still alive, and I haven't heard how yet."

Naruto numbly waved the question off, still in shock, saying, "I was never in any danger. Ezio-sensei only wanted to teach me how to assassinate people."

Now it was Hiruzen's turn to be shocked. "What! He taught you how to kill people? Where is he? I need to have…_words_ with him." He growled.

Naruto's eyes fell. "He died." He whispered quietly. "His old age caught up with him, and he died in his sleep. About a week ago."

Hiruzen lost his temper. "I'm sorry about that, Naruto. I didn't mean to disrespect your teacher. I can see he was very close to you." He laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto looked up and smiled. "Thanks, old man. He would have liked to hear someone call him my teacher instead of my grandpa."

Hiruzen chuckled and sat down, Naruto doing the same. "Now, Naruto-kun, tell me about what you did these last couple of years…"

…

**The Next Day…**

Iruka Umino entered his classroom, to the sounds of hyper-active pre-teens. He sighed as he looked around the room, spotting Hinata Hyuuga in the back row where she always sat, looking lost.

She hadn't lost that look since the day Naruto was declared dead, and the funeral was held. Her grades had gone from second best to the middle of the class, and her practical tests she always fought weakly.

Iruka sighed, thinking about the blonde boy who was so much like himself when he was younger. At first, he had been indifferent to Naruto, but over the two years he had known him, Naruto had started to grow on Iruka.

He was distracted from his thoughts as a messenger hawk tapped on the window. Frowning in thought, Iruka opened the window and pulled the message of the hawk's leg.

Iruka's eyes became wider and wider as he read the message, until they looked like they would pop out of his skull. "Can it be?" He murmured to himself.

Mizuki tapped on his friend's shoulder, concerned about the paleness his friend was showing. "Something wrong?" He asked.

Before Iruka could answer, a knock came at the window next to Hinata. Startled out of her thoughts, she jumped and looked at the window.

Blue eyes peered at her from beyond the glass, and a smiling, whiskered face that haunted her dreams looked back at her.

She slowly opened the window and let Naruto in. he climbed in the window and landed lightly on his feet, barely making a sound.

"Hi, Hinata! Long time, no see!" He said cheerfully in a strange accent, smiling at her and wrapping her up in a hug.

For the first time in a long time, Hinata actually smiled and hugged him back.

And then promptly fainted.

Naruto looked down at the red-faced Hyuuga girl in amusement. He set her down in her chair, and sat down next to her.

"Um, who are you?" A girl with pink hair asked curiously, head cocked to the side in a cute manner.

Naruto smiled at her and stood, sweeping his hood back and bowing to her. "My name is Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki, my dear. And you are?"

The pink-haired girl seemed taken aback by the bow and the name, stammering, "S-Sakura H-Haruno." She took the offered hand and blushed fiercely as Naruto kissed it.

"It is a pleasure to meet a beauty such as yourself, Sakura Haruno."

"What about me?" A blonde girl sitting next to her asked in worry.

Naruto bowed again and asked her name as well, introducing himself again as he did. "I'm Ino Yamanaka!" She said forcefully, practically forcing her hand into his face. Naruto kissed it as well, and heard shouts of "Ino-Pig!" and "Wha about me?" coming from several girls and Sakura.

Iruka smiled as Naruto was swamped by his new fan club. _It's good to have you back, Naruto._

…

Hinata walked home, smiling for the first time in years. Naruto was home, and nothing could ruin her good mood. She walked past the gate to the Hyuuga compound and the guards, still smiling, and walked into her father's office. "Father!" She shouted, "Naruto is alive, and he's in the village!"

Hiashi looked up from his paper work with wide eyes. "What? Hinata, are you sure?"

Hinata nodded furiously. "I turned on my Byakugan and everything! It wasn't a Henge!"

Hiashi sat back in his chair, rubbing his forehead. "I had better call a council meeting, the other Shinobi on it will want to hear this."

Hinata jumped up and down excitedly. "I can't believe he's back! He's more handsome than I remember! I better train so I can impress him!"

She sprinted off to the Hyuuga's dojo, while Hiashi shunshinned out of his office.  
>…<p>

Naruto walked down the street, gently parting the crowd around him, smiling at the memories of his first day back. He stopped in front of a large house as people walked past him, some eyeing his robes.

He stepped up to the gate, and the people around him stopped walking. He raised his hand and waved it over the crest covering the lock. He walked forward, uncaring of the gasps coming from the people watching, and entered the gate, robes flapping in the wind. Naruto flipped his hood back, and walked forward to the door. He opened the door, and vanished inside, the gate closing and locking behind him.

…

**A/N: And that's the first chapter. So…I already know who Naruto will end up with, but who do you want to see him with? Tell me in a review!**

**Until next time, **

**Keep Being Awesome!**

**-Sol**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2: Now, An Actual Triumphant Return

"What? The Naruto is still alive! How is this possible?" The Council of Konoha was in an uproar with the news of Naruto's return, most importantly, the shinobi side, among them Tsume Inuzuka, Inochi Yamanaka, Shibi Aburame, Chouza Akimichi, Shikaku Nara, and Hiashi Hyuuga.

Tsume Inuzuka, the Inuzuka clan matriarch, was overjoyed, and yet, at the same time, worried. Tsume, Hiashi and Minato Namikaze had been teammates when they were genin, and had remained close friends afterwards, even when Minato had become the Yondaime. Tsume was overjoyed because her friend's son was still alive, but worried because of the deal she had made with Minato that Hiashi had made as well.

A deal that included a marriage contract between the Namikaze, the Inuzuka, and the Hyuuga. The deal they had made was this: When their kids were born, if one the kids were a girl, then the Namikaze would marry either the Hyuuga or the Inuzuka. But if they were both girls (the Hyuuga _and_ the Inuzuka) then the Namikaze would marry both of them, seeing as Minato had married Kushina before the council could push the CRA on him, it would most likely happen to his child. And if all of their children were girls, then they failed as parents (joke!).

The problem was that Tsume had told her daughter, Hana, that the boy she would have married died years ago, and Hana had turned into an ice queen. She thought she was destined for no one, so held herself aloof from every guy who tried to approach her.

Also, the CRA wouldn't be put into effect unless Naruto possessed a Kekkei Genkai, and no one knew if he had taken after his mother or father in that respect.

Now, Tsume had some good news for her daughter, and if what The Hokage had said was anything to go by, she would be impressed.

…

Naruto stood in the middle of his personal training ground in the grounds surrounding his new house. Eight beat-up straw targets surrounded him at varying distances.

He breathed in, finding his center, arms loose at his sides.

He breathed out, and shot into action. His hands flew to his shoulders, pulling throwing knives from underneath his pauldrons and flicking them towards the targets in front, where they buried themselves up to the hilt in the place where the eyes would be.

Naruto didn't stop there. He spun crossing his arms and pulling two more knives from underneath his greaves and throwing them. He kept turning, using the momentum from his throws and throwing more knives with deadly accuracy, each one hitting the dummies in the eyes.

An ANBU sitting in a tree behind Naruto watched in interest as Naruto 'killed' all the 'enemies'. His eyes widened in shock as Naruto whirled and threw a knife straight for the ANBU's head.

Naruto had felt someone watching him for a little while, and decided to take care of the watcher.

Naturally with a knife to the brain.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw who, exactly, he had thrown a knife at. It was a woman in ANBU armor, wearing a cat mask, with a katana strapped to her back. Doing the only thing he could think of, Naruto's pupils seemed to twist and whirl inside his eyes, the same happening to the air in front of the throwing knife, sucking it in and disappearing.

Another singularity opened by Naruto's foot, and the throwing knife embedded itself into the ground.

Giving a surprised squawk, the ANBU fell off the tree branch she was crouching on, landing on her ass. Naruto rushed over, eyes normal.

"Oh, damn! I'm sorry! I didn't know you were ANBU!" He helped the ANBU to her feet, apologizing over and over.

She cleared her throat and spoke, glad her mask hid her flushed face. "Namikaze, the council has called for you to be present during a meeting. Now." She grabbed his arm and shunshinned him to the council chambers, then shunshinning away after letting go him.

"Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki, you have been called before this council to answer for the past five years." The Hokage said solemnly. "Would you please explain to us why you have been missing for five years?"

Naruto began to tell his story, about his teacher and where they went, but left out some of the more important parts. Such as the two hidden guns and the large amount of ammunition he had for them, or Altair's blade and armor, which were far lighter, but far stronger than regular steel.

(I also don't want to tell you his story yet, as it will be explained in later chapters.)

"…That's why I'm here, because Ezio-sensei made me promise him that I would finish my training. And I figured that it would probably be a good idea to see what my old village looks like now, and to see if the villagers had cooled down at all." Naruto finished, as the door opened and a man wrapped in bandages limped in, using a cane.

The Third sighed. "Nice of you to join us, Danzo. You only missed a very interesting story from Naruto here."

Danzo looked over Naruto with one eye, while Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. Naruto turned and walked up to him, pulling something from his pouch as he did.

"You're Danzo Shimura?" Naruto asked in a low voice.

Danzo nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Naruto held up and eagle feather, stained red in blood. "I believe this is yours." He said, handing the bloody feather to Danzo.

Danzo's lone eye widened. "You! You are Hiko Washi?" He practically shouted. Naruto gave him a dead-pan stare and pulled his sword from his sheath, showing him the outstretched eagle for the hilt. "This isn't just for show, y'know."

The council, even the shinobi, gasped. Hiko Washi, or Flying Eagle (EEEAGLE!) is a famous assassin, famous for taking any job, and always completing it, no matter what.

Hiashi spoke up, in the interest of moving things forward, and finding out whether or not his daughter and Tsume's daughter could marry the same boy, he asked, "Excuse me Naruto-san, but do you have a Kekkei Genkai? Both your father and your mother had one, but do you?"

Naruto smiled. "Of course. I heal really fast, I have my father's Target Eye, my mother's Whirlpool eye, and those are all passable to offspring."

Shikaku Nara raised his hand. "This is so troublesome…but, Naruto-san, you're mother had the Uzumaki healing, not anything called the 'Whirlpool Eye'. What is that, exactly?"

Naruto shrugged, and began to explain. "It is true, my mom didn't have the Whirlpool Eye. She only had the genes, not the eye itself. The eye requires a specific situation to activate, and I met it during my travels. What the eye does, exactly, is kinda hard to explain, so I'll just show you."

Naruto pulled a rock out from his pocket, and tossed it up, turning his hand around and activating his eyes. The rock was sucked into the singularity, and disappeared, reappearing in Naruto's hand as another hole in space opened up and threw the rock back out and into Naruto's hand.

"As far as I know, there are three levels to the Uzugan. One, my pupils change, and I can teleport small objects. Two, my irises and pupils change, and I can teleport moderately sized objects. And three, my whole eye changes, and I can teleport myself, as well as others around. At least that's what the scroll said." Naruto said.

The council sat there, shocked. Tsume and Hiashi were happy, because they could fulfill the promise they had made to Minato, while making their daughters happy.

Naruto looked over at the smiling Hiashi. "Why do you ask?"

Hiashi just smiled some more, and pointed towards the Hokage. The Third shook his head at Naruto, sighing. One of the civilians raised his hand and stood.

"I think I speak for all of us when I propose that Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki be put under the CRA."

Seeing the nodding heads, the Hokage sighed, and spoke. "All in favor?" Everyone except Naruto raised his hand.

"All opposed?"

Nothing.

"From now on, Naruto, you are under the Clan Restoration Act. That means that you will have to practice polygamy."

Naruto looked confused for a second, thinking back to the time he had visited the Earth Daimyo. He remembered how the man had multiple wives, and that Ezio had been slightly jealous of that.

Naruto nodded. "Alright, I guess that makes sense…Wait, WHAT?"

…

**A/N: Not very action-y, I know, but trust me, it's going to get better! Really!**

**So, I now the whole 'CRA' thing has been done WAY too many times, but you have to admit, it makes a lot of sense. **

**How'd you like my take on a doujutsu? I got the idea from Kakashi's 'Kamui' ability, 'cause I thought it was just awesome.**

**Tell me in a review!**

**Who do you want to see in the harem, huh?**

**And why are all my stories harem stories?**

**I'm such a pervert…**

**WHOOO!**

**Keep Being Awesome!**

**-Sol**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3: What'cha Gonna Do?

Naruto paced the Academy grounds, his mind still in shock from the meeting with the council. Even though it had been a week ago. Wimp.

He had gone into his classroom on Monday, expecting a simple, regular day in class. Nope!

Instead, he had been mobbed by fan-girls, all clamoring for him to marry them. He had declined, politely, of course, but that didn't stop them from trying to get him marry them. Everyday since then, he had been followed by hordes fan-girls and fan-women, and even their fathers, who insisted that their 'little angels' (More like hellions) were good marriage material.

Naruto's head snapped up as he felt the ground rumble. Eyes widening in fear, he sprinted off towards the side of the academy building, running a few steps up the wall and jumping, catching a windowsill and pitching himself into the classroom.

Such is the life of an unwilling CRA participant.

…

**The Next Friday…**

_It's been two weeks! I'm not going to survive this!_ Naruto thought frantically, hopping to the next rooftop in his path, ducking a flying-tackle-hug. He sprinted towards his daily sanctuary, the Academy. Naruto jumped and swung on a banner pole hanging off the side of the academy, throwing himself into the classroom, flying over Sasuke Uchiha's head, and landing in the chair next to him.

The chair skidded on the floor about two feet, coming to rest after almost falling over. Naruto sat nonchalantly, hands folded with his chin resting on them, and simply said to Sasuke: "Yo."

Sasuke looked at Naruto and saw the slight shaking of his hands, the twitch in his eye, and the fearful looks he kept shooting around the classroom.

And then…Sasuke laughed.

And laughed.

"So, you just escaped from being chased by the ravenous hordes, huh?" He said, wiping a tear from his eye. Naruto shot Sasuke a 'please kill me' look, and said, "Yes! Now would you stop being so happy about it?"

Two weeks ago, Naruto and Sasuke had been running from their respective hordes of fangirls, had ran into each other in the middle of an alley. Naruto and Sasuke, noticing the dreamy looks in the fan-girls eyes at the two of them being in the same place at the same time, acted reflexively, and together, threw smoke bombs, and escaped via rooftop.

Since then, they had helped each other out of tight spots, and become fast friends.

The terror of fan-girls can change the most broody of bastards (Sasuke) into a pretty relaxed, laid-back guy, while at the same time turning one of the most patient people into a nervous, twitchy wreck, and make them friends.

Across and back from Naruto and Sasuke, Hinata Hyuuga looked at Sasuke in envy. _I wish I could talk to Naruto-kun like that…_she thought sadly. She shook her head, refocusing on the book in front of her. _Naruto-kun was right. I need to stop dreaming about him and focus on my training. That way I can grow strong with Naruto-kun, and he will finally know that I love him. I just need to get stronger, for me, and him…_

…

Today was the day of the genin exams, and all of the students who felt that they would pass easy were lounging around, waiting for the test to start, while those who were unsure were studying, and those who were sure that they would bomb it, were sweating nervously.

Iruka entered the classroom, and looked around. He saw Naruto and Sasuke talking to each other, and Hinata reading, the various fan-girls in the class looking at Naruto or Sasuke with hearts in their eyes…

Yup, a pretty normal day.

Iruka started it off by having Mizuki hand out the written portion of the exams. The white-haired chunin secretly slipped Naruto a genjutsu covered paper, and moved on. _All according to plan…_Mizuki thought. The thought was quickly dispelled, as was the genjutsu on the paper.

Looking back, he saw Sasuke leaning over and whispering to Naruto after he had gotten rid of the illusion, obviously telling him something. Naruto nodded, and they commenced the test.

…

**Outside…**

The whole class stood in front of a ring drawn in the dirt, waiting for the taijutsu portion of the exam. Mizuki held a clipboard in one hand, watching the students, trying to see who would be fit to fight against each other. Iruka stayed behind in the classroom, grading the tests.

"Ok! Up first, Shuyo Juikame vs. Naruto Namikaze!" Mizuki called. The two students walked forward.

Shuyo, a brown-haired, brown-eyed bully sneered at the robed Naruto, who simply bowed in return.

Mizuki looked back and forth between the two of them, raising his hand. "Ready?" he asked. Receiving nods, he whipped his hand down, shouting, "Hajime!"

Shuyo noticed Naruto staring up at the sky an exasperated expression on his face. Deciding to take advantage, Shuyo scooped up a rock and hurled it at Naruto's head. If anything, throwing a rock at an assassin is always a bad idea, and a little childish. His accuracy was good though.

Naruto raised a hand and caught the rock, flicking it back, nailing Shuyo in the forehead. The bully hit the ground, dazed, as Naruto raised his arm.

A pigeon flew down and landed on Naruto's arm, cooing softly. Naruto stroked the top of the birds head a few times, then unraveled a message attached to its leg. The pigeon flew off as Naruto read the message.

He sighed and set the message aflame with a small Katon jutsu. Turning to Mizuki, he bowed and said, "Sorry, my job is calling, and I gotta go. Bye."

Iruka, by that time, had finished grading the papers and had come out of the building in time to hear that statement from Naruto. "Naruto! You can't just walk out of the genin exams! You still need to be tested on ninjutsu or you fail!" Iruka shouted at Naruto.

Naruto sighed, crossing his arms and tapping a foot impatiently. "What do I have to do to pass?"

Iruka held up three fingers, ticking them off as he listed the requirements. "Bunshin, Henge and Kawarimi jutsu."

Naruto looked shocked, then nodded. "Alright."

Naruto snapped his fingers, and Henge'd into Iruka, snapped his fingers again and three clones of Naruto/Iruka appeared in bursts of smoke.  
>Iruka's eyes widened as he looked down at the feet of the clones, noticing that they actually made indents in the ground. <em>How did he learn the Kage Bunshin?<em> He thought, turning his eyes on Naruto.

But Naruto did not wait to hear anything Iruka had to say. He flicked a pebble up from the ground, caught and let it fly over the gate of the academy.

Naruto vanished in a poof of smoke, the pebble switching places with Naruto. "Tell me if I passed!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder, disappearing into surrounding forests of Konoha.

Iruka shook his head and turned to Mizuki. "That kid…" he muttered.

…

**Twenty Miles Outside of Konoha, Nightfall…**

**Haibafaku Gai…**

"Damn, do these horses eat a shit-ton of hay." A guard for the governor of Haibafaku Gai, named Shinjou commented as he forked over hay from a wooden cart to the horse's trough with his pal in the guard, Hasizhi.

"Yeah, but someone's gotta do it." Hasizhi said. He rested his pitchfork against the ground and looked up at the clock. "Oh, shit! I gotta get back to my post before the watchman comes by to check on me!" He dropped the pitchfork and ran, forgetting his spear leaning against the wall.

Shinjou looked after his running friend in amusement. His smile dropped from his face as he heard a sharp rustle come from the cart-full of hay.

"Whose there?" He called, holding his pitchfork like a spear. He cautiously jabbed it into the hay.

Nothing happened.

He sighed and began pulling the farming implement out of the hay. Or, at least, tried. The giant fork stuck fast in the hay, then gave a sudden jerk, pulling Shinjou forward with a startled yelp.

Something darted out of the hay, jammed something into his neck, and pulled him inside the hay.

Hasizhi shuffled back around the corner, looking for his spear. "Hey, Shinjou, have you-" He gurgled and fell to the ground, clutching his throat as something sharp pierced his artery, and his life-giving fluid flowed out of him and onto the ground.

…

A shadowy figure ran across the top of the governor's mansion, avoiding detection by the sentries posted along the outside wall. The figure stooped on top of the roof, peeking down the wall.

Spying an open window, the figure crouched and dropped, falling off the side. Grasping the ledge, he swung inside, landing silently, like a cat.

Then, the lamps in the room flickered on, throwing the room and all it's contents into light.

Naruto stood, looking around him with surprised eyes. The room was packed full of guards, all with various weapons pointed at Naruto. In their midst, sat a fat man, with silk robe on, with several belts keeping the thing mercifully closed.

"Very good, assassin! You are exactly what I paid for!" The Fat governor sneered. Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"You hired me to kill yourself?" he asked.

The governor's tremendous girth shook with mirth. "Oh, no! I hired you so I could finally put the 'Flying Eagle' down for good."

Naruto spread his arms and legs getting into a ready position. "So this was all a trap?"

"Of course!" This guy really needed to lose some weight. "No one is this town has the guts to oppose me! Now, are you going to die quietly, or am I going to have to get blood on the walls?"

Naruto dropped an arm in front of him, fiddling with his bracer. To stall, he said, "You know why I always take the job?" Not waiting for an answer he continued. "It's because I've heard of this town. Used to be the crown jewel of the Daimyo's lands, until someone started stealing the resources out from under them."

The governor scowled. "Your point?"

My code tells me to stay my blade from the innocents. And you, my fat friend, are far from innocent." Naruto raised his arm, palm open towards the governor. "You hired me to kill you." Something clicked in Naruto's bracer.

"And I always finish the job."

With a noise like a thunder-crack, Naruto's arm jerked back violently, and the governor's chair tipped over, landing on the floor and spilling it's cargo upon it.

The governor laid still, eyes wide in shock, blood spilling from his forehead.

The now-jobless guards shook off their shock. "You little bastard!" One of them roared. "You just killed our employer! Boys! Get him!"

The lights flickered out. Then the room was lit by a dark red light. Chakra streamed off of Naruto, lighting the room. He opened his eyes, and killing intent forced the men to their knees.

"_**My sensei told me to only use this power when I was in a dire situation."**_ Naruto's smile became deadly. _**"But I want to let the fox out of his cage."**_

Naruto reached down to his sides, and pulled two foot-and-a-half long daggers from their sheaths.

"_**Come forth, to your death!"**_ He roared as he dashed into the thick of the men.

Screams were heard throughout the small town of Haibafaku Gai. When the screams were determined to be coming from the governor's mansion, no one rushed in to help.

…

Naruto, blood dripping from his armor, walked back to where he had made his first kill of the night. Opening the horses stalls, he let them go free. Except one.

Naruto looked over the white stallion with a smile on his face. "It is a long ride home…" he said ruefully. "Ah, what the hell." Naruto swung himself onto the back of the horse, nudged it in the sides and shouted, "Heyaah!"

The white stallion and its rider disappeared down the road, leaving a liberated town behind.

…

**A/N: And that's that! The end of chapter three. I know things seem a little slow right now, but trust me, thins will pick up soon, I promise!**

**Tell me how I did in a review, and leave any suggestions for what you want to see in the story.**

**Next chapter: From Assassination to D-Ranks.**

**Until then, **

**Keep Being Awesome!**

**-Sol**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4: From Assassinations to D-Ranks.

Mizuki breathed a sigh of relief, Forbidden Scroll of Sealing slung across his back. It seemed like he'd lost his pursuers.

"Now," he whispered to himself, eyes alight with greed, "To get this to Orochimaru-sama and receive my reward."

The sound of blade being unsheathed, however quietly, drew the traitor's attention. He whipped around, large shuriken in hand, and was nearly blinded by the white robes Naruto was wearing.

"The only reward you shall receive, traitor," Naruto spoke through gritted teeth, "is a head, separated from your shoulders."

"Naruto!" Mizuki began to sweat, and his eyes widened with fear. He normally wouldn't fear a kid, but this wasn't any kid; this was Flying Eagle, and assassin of the highest caliber, having been said to have killed the Wind Daimyo in his sleep, in full view of his guards, without being caught.

"Y-you misheard me! I-I'm a double agent! I'm working for the Sandaime, trying to catch Orochimaru!" He babbled desperately. _Please believe me!_

Naruto glared at him for a few long, tenuous seconds, then sighed, and sheathed his sword. "Good. That snake bastard has been a menace for too long. Good luck." He then turned and swept away, cape billowing in the wind.

Mizuki smiled viciously. He twirled the large shuriken in his hand for a second, and then threw it, as hard as he could, at Naruto's back. "Die, Demon!"

Naruto pivoted on his foot, the shuriken passing by harmlessly. The air before the weapon twisted and swirled, before the shuriken disappeared in a vortex.

The last thing Mizuki heard was the sound of flesh being sliced, and searing pain coming from his waist.

Naruto strode up to the top half of Mizuki's body and retrieved the Forbidden Scroll. He glared down at the look of shock on the dead chunin's face, and shook his head. "I guess I lied. I said I would take your head, but instead, I cut you in half. Oh, wait, you threw that shuriken, not me. So, perhaps it is considered suicide?"

He heaved the scroll over his shoulder, and walked away, his leather boots not making a sound, leaving behind only silence, and a corpse in two pieces.

…

Sasuke Uchiha avoided the ravenous hordes of fangirls after his young, (apparently) desirable body, and sprinted into the safety of the halls of the Academy. Well, relative safety. He still had to watch out for the fans when he went to the bathroom.

Because otherwise, they would catch him…

…with his pants down.

And that was not a good thing. At least, not in his mind.

Sasuke shook those horrifying thoughts from his head, and walked into the classroom. He noted that Naruto was already there, flipping a knife in one hand, catching it by the blade, then flicking back up into another glittering arc.

What was different today, was that the assassin was wearing dark green robes, instead of the usual white and red.

Sliding into the seat next to him and acting like he had not just been running for his life/virginity, Sasuke greeted him. "Hey. What's with the new look, Naruto?"

Naruto glanced at him, still flipping the blade, his eyes empty of all emotion, or seemingly, life. Sasuke leaned back, afraid that he had said something wrong.

Then, the spark and warmth that his eyes usually held, returned. He blinked and shook his head, absently catching the knife and sheathing it in his belt. "Oh. Hey Sasuke. Did you say something?"

Still looking at Naruto in a weird fashion, he responded slowly, "Yeah…why are you wearing green?" Inwardly; he shivered, and hoped that dead look was never directed at him.

"I figured that white wasn't the best choice in a forested area, so I dyed my clothes for camouflage." Naruto tugged on his robes slightly, showing off the color.

They sat in amicable silence, waiting for the rest of the genin to show up so they could be assigned teams.

After a time of making small time conversation, the rest of the junior ninja filed in, taking up seats and filling the classroom with chatter. The various fangirls argued about who was hotter, and who could kick who's ass, trivial things at most.

Shikamaru slept with his feet up on his desk, arms folded behind his head. His rotund friend Chouji sat next to him, munching on an endless bag of chips. Ino and Sakura sat together, whispering to each other and shooting longing looks at Sasuke and Naruto. Hinata read a book on human anatomy, at times activating her Byakugan to take looks at her crush. Shino…was Shino. Kiba played with his companion Akamaru. Everyone else doesn't matter.

Iruka entered the classroom alone, holding a file, a headband and a scroll. He looked haggard and slightly worn. Iruka looked around, spotting Naruto sitting next to Sasuke, he tossed the headband and scroll to Naruto, who caught them and looked at the chunin questioningly.

"You passed the exam, so there's your headband. There's also a note from the Hokage about that incident last night." He smiled at the blonde, and opened the file, looking around the room. "It has been my pleasure to teach you, all of you for the past year. Now that you are genin, life will change for you. You are low-ranking ninja, but still, life will be hard." He locked eyes with every one of the genin, smiling slightly. "Train hard, and dedicate yourself to missions and team, and you'll go far."

"Now," He scanned the file, and began announcing the Teams. "Team 1 will be…"

He went through almost the entire roster, reaching Team Seven. "And Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura…Sasuke Uchiha…and Kiba Inuzuka, with jonin-sensei Kakashi Hatake." At first, Sakura cheered when she heard she was on 'Sasuke-kun's' team, and then groaned when Kiba's name was announced. Sasuke just grunted, but on the inside he was screaming, _WHAT? WHY HER? DEAR GOD, HELP ME!_ Kiba scowled at being on the 'banshee's' and 'prick's' team.

"Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuuga…Shikamaru Nara…And Chouji Akimichi, with Asuma Sarutobi as jonin-sensei." Shikamaru and Chouji high-fived each other, while Hinata looked down disappointedly.

"Team 9 is still in circulation from last year, so Team 10 is Shino Aburame…Naruto Uzumaki…and Ino Yamanaka, with-"

Before he could finish, a large black bundle shattered a nearby window, unfurled, two kunais sticking into the ceiling, revealing a woman with purple hair in a pineapple styled ponytail, wearing a tan trenchcoat, mesh body armor that revealed _**a lot**_, and an orange mini-skirt that was barely decent.

The jonin posed, hand on hip, other hand in the victory sign, and a wide, almost feral smile on her face.

"Listen up, you little maggots! Aburame, Yamanaka, Uzumaki! Stand up!" She shouted, making several genin jump in fright. This only seemed to amuse her, for some reason.

Naruto, Ino and Shino stood up and walked forward, Sakura and Sasuke wishing their respective friends good luck.

The woman smirked at her team, and yelled, "Meet me at the Dango Bar in five minutes, or stay a student! Go!"

Shino and Ino hurried away, sweating in fear of the crazy woman.  
>Naruto, however, stood there. Staring at the woman, who smirked at him. "Not listening to your superiors? That's called insubordination, genin."<p>

Abruptly, Naruto spoke in a serious tone. "Are you Anko Mitarashi? The Ex-Apprentice of Orochimaru?"

Killing intent began to fill the air, directed at Naruto, though it still made the rest of the class sweat.

Anko sneered at him. "Yeah, I am. What's it to ya?"

He held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I meant no offense, Mitarashi-san. I just needed to know who you were."

She narrowed her eyes on him suspiciously. "Why?"

In response, Naruto pushed his hood down, revealing a head full of blonde hair. He then pulled his collar away slightly, showing something to Anko that made her gasp, along with Iruka.

"Because we are far more alike than you think."

…

Shino and Ino had been sitting at the Dango Bar for the past hour, no sign of either Naruto or their crazy sensei.

"Where…are…they?" Ino whispered through gritted teeth. "Five minutes my ass!"

Shino shrugged wordlessly, and she sighed in exasperation.

Naruto jumped down from the roof, landing in front of the table and startling the other two genin. "Sorry about that," He apologized, "The sensei and I had to discuss something important."

Anko appeared in the middle of a small tornado of leaves. She looked around and spotted her team, smirking as she approached. She pulled a chair back and plopped down, crossing her arms and leaning back.

"Now that we are all here, let's introduce ourselves, hmm? I'll go first! My name is Anko Mitarashi, I like dango, red bean soup, and my job! I hate a certain snake, and perverts. My hobbies are my job, eating dango, devising creative and fun ways to torture a certain snake, and training. My dream for the future is to kill said snake, and get rid of a certain stain." Here, her eyes flickered towards Naruto.

She pointed at Ino. "You next, blondie."

Ino scowled at the nickname, but started talking anyways. "My name is Ino Yamanaka. I like gardening, tea, sushi, my clan and…" She looked at Naruto and looked away quickly, blushing. "…Someone. I dislike people who don't respect flowers, people who think blondes are dumb, and perverts. My hobbies are gardening, and painting my fingernails. My dream is to take over as head of my clan, and raise a family with…someone."

Anko's face lost all expression during Ino's introduction. _So, a fan girl, huh? I'm gonna beat that shit right out of you, girlie. Make you someone your father can be proud of._

She nodded at Shino. "You're up, tall, dark and creepy."

Shino pouted slightly underneath his high collar, but no one could see it. _I'm not creepy…_ He thought plaintively. He still spoke in his normal monotone voice. "My name is Shino Aburame. I like insects, my clan, and finding new species of insects. I dislike people who kill insects for no good reason, pesticides and fly swatters. My hobbies include studying insects and refining my insect techniques. My dream is to be a good clan head."

Anko deadpanned at Shino. "You're really flamboyant, you know that?"

Finally, she looked at Naruto. Taking it as his signal, he introduced himself. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I enjoy training, gardening, and creating new techniques. I dislike traitors, a certain snake, and very sweet foods. My hobbies include training, gardening, creating new techniques, my job, and learning useful things. My dream is to make my sensei proud of me, and be a feared assassin."

Ino scrunched up her face cutely. "Why would you want to be an assassin?"

Naruto peered at her from under his hood. "I am already and assassin, Ino. I've been one since I was seven years old."

Shock showed on Ino, Anko and Shino's faces. "Why is that so hard to comprehend? When I 'died', I was actually taken as an apprentice by a master assassin, and trained in his ways." Naruto said, as if speaking about the weather.

Anko shook off her shock, gave Naruto one more strange look, then turned her attention to all three of the genin. "Well, now that we've learned about each other, why don't we meet at training ground 10 in…ten minutes? Good!" Without waiting for a reply, she shunshinned away.

Naruto stood and nodded at Ino and Shino, pulling a pellet from his pouch and throwing it on the ground, where it burst into smoke. When the haze cleared, Naruto was gone.

…

**Training Ground Ten…**

Anko tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for her genin to show up. Ino and Shino ran into the clearing, stopping in front of her and panting.

"Where's Naruto?" Anko asked.

"Right here."

Anko whipped around, kunai in hand, only to find Naruto lounging in a tree branch. He gave her a smile and hopped down, going to stand with his teammates.

"So," He said, "Why are we here?"

Anko smirked and put away her kunai, before cracking her neck and knuckles. "I have a surprise for you."

Ino took the bait and asked, "What is it?"

Anko's smirk turned into a full-blown evil grin. "You're not actually genin yet."

Ino screeched, "WHAT?"

Naruto and Shino didn't react besides a raised eyebrow.

Anko wiggled a pinkie in her ear. "You heard me. You aren't genin. Yet." She held up a hand with two tags in it. "You have to tag me with these. Then, I will pass the those who tagged me."

"What? But, there are only two tags!" Ino shouted.

The jonin smirked and threw the two tags in the air. "You have until noon!"

Ino ran forward, hands out to catch a tag. Naruto threw another smoke pellet on the ground, engulfing the area in smoke.

When it dissipated, the genin and tags were gone.

…

In the forest of the training ground, Naruto had his hand clamped over Ino's mouth. "Shh!" He put a finger to his lips, and when Ino stopped struggling, he let go.

"What was that for, Naruto!" She whispered loudly.

The assassin put a finger to her lips, silencing her and making her blush at the contact. "Be quiet for a second, Ino. I have a plan, and it takes a little delicacy."

"What is your plan, Naruto-san?" Shino asked in his monotone voice.

Naruto handed Ino and Shino the two tags, and whispered his plan to them.

"Are you sure it will work, Naruto?" Ino worriedly questioned. "It seems…risky."

"Don't worry, Ino. I taken many risks such as this before." He ran a hand across her cheek assuringly, making the blonde kunochi blush bright red.

Naruto stood tall, and loosened the front of his robes, showing off his muscular chest. "Here I go. Wait for my signal."

…

Anko, was bored. Out of her mind. It had been thirty minutes, and her genin hadn't done anything remotely dangerous or fun!

She heard a rustling behind her, and spun around, an eager smile on her face.

It died instantly.

Naruto exited the shrubs of the surrounding forest, dropping his robes, cloak, and armor on the ground, leaving his upper body completely bare, except for a muscle shirt that clung tightly to his chest.

Anko began to drool.

He stepped forward, and Anko was instantly on guard, dropping into a fighting stance. Naruto held up his hands in a gesture of peace, and kept approaching.

Anko frowned as he began to get closer. "What are you doing?" She asked suspiciously.

Naruto just kept walking up to her, until he was in her range of motion. She narrowed her eyes and punched, striking out like a snake.

His hand came up and caught her fist, gripping it tightly and pulling, spinning her around. Anko found herself held tightly against Naruto's chest, with his arms holding her own down. She struggled in his grip, until she felt his hot breath tickle her ear as he whispered, "You're too tense, Anko-chan."

He began to rub up and down her arms gently, channeling chakra into his hands. Anko ceased to struggle as a foreign warmth began to well up in her stomach. "W-what are you doing?" She stammered.

Naruto nibbled on her earlobe, murmuring, "I'm just letting you…unwind." He kissed her cheek gently, moving down and placing light, feathery kisses on her neck, as his hands moved down to rub her stomach through the mesh bodysuit she wore.

Anko moaned softly as his hands ran up her sides, barely skimming the sides of her breasts, settling on her shoulders and gently beginning to massage the tension out of them. His hands worked their magic, and soon, Anko melted into his chest, leaning her head against Naruto's shoulder, while he placed light kisses on her cheeks and neck, occasionally licking and nibbling her earlobe.

She turned to face him, her half-lidded brown orbs meeting his cerulean. They didn't care that they were inches away from their lips becoming acquainted with each other. She began to move closer to him, her eyes locked on his. He reciprocated, and the distance between them began to close.

They were centimeters away. They could feel the warmth radiating from each other's lips, calling to the other. A tingle made its' way through their bodies.

And then, their lips met.

And that tingle became a spark, that spark became a small, flickering flame, and as the kiss became more than chaste, that flame ignited into a roaring fire. Anko tentatively ran her tongue along his lower lip, asking for permission. Naruto opened his mouth slightly, just enough for his own tongue to slip out and meet hers, twisting and tasting her.

The taste of sweet dango and the slight flavor of apricots was what Naruto tasted. Anko tasted the flavor of sweet apples, and the slight tang of tropical fruit.

The fire became a raging inferno that seemed to engulf their bodies, and somehow, they found themselves on the ground, Anko sitting in Naruto's lap, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and his hands resting lightly on her hips.

Anko slid her hand down Naruto's chest, feeling the soft material of the shirt, and the smooth, tanned skin as if in a hyper-reality, her senses magnified to the maximum. Naruto was in no better position. He was running his hands up her back underneath her trenchcoat and mesh, feeling the smooth, milky flesh as their tongues danced around each other. He eventually conceded, allowing her full access into his mouth. He sucked lightly on her invading muscle, and she moaned in passion.

They broke the kiss, after the need for air became unbearable. They stared into each other's eyes, glazed over with passion.

Then, she felt two taps on her back, the inferno died, and the surroundings of the forest rushed back. Realizing what she had been tagged with, Anko's eyes widened, as did Naruto's.

Acting quickly, Naruto ripped the offending slips of paper off her back before they could activate.

Anko jumped off Naruto, her eyes wide in fear as she looked over at the shocked Ino and Shino, whose eyebrows looked like they were threatening to pull themselves off his head.

She stiffened in fear as Naruto stood up. He walked over to his upper clothing, sealed it into a scroll with a puff of smoke, and strode back to Anko.

He cupped her cheek, making her look at him, her eyes still fearful. Her hands moved of their own accord, making the seal for a shunshin. Reacting, Naruto grabbed her arm, and they both disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

"That…was most interesting." Shino said, eyebrows still up.

Ino said nothing.

…

**Anko's Apartment Complex…**

Arriving in the whirl of leaves, Anko sprinted up the steps, running into her apartment and slamming the door, leaving Naruto behind.

But not for long.

He ran up after her, and tried the door. It was locked. Pulling his lock-picking kit from his pouch, he picked the lock in a couple seconds.

Pushing the door open slowly, and not finding Anko in the living room, he crept into the apartment. Hearing water running, and the sounds of sobbing, as well as seeing Anko's trenchcoat, mesh, skirt and headband on the floor, he deduced that she was in the shower.

Stepping out of his boots, he approached the slightly ajar door to the bathroom, and peeked in.

Anko sat underneath the spray of the shower, in her bra and panties, knees to her chest, head down and the sounds of crying reaching his ears.

He pushed the door open gently. Without looking, Anko said, in a muffled tone of voice, "Go away, Naruto."

Naruto stopped where he was, and gently closed the door to the bathroom.

Believing him to be gone, Anko began to cry harder, her sobs wracking her body. She heard the sound of cloth hitting the floor, and then felt the warm spray of the shower cut off, then return.

An arm wrapped around her shoulder, and she stiffened. Bringing her head up, she saw, through puffy eyes, Naruto gazing at her with sadness on his face.

He reached over, and cupped her cheek gently. Running his thumb under her eye, he murmured, "I'll never leave you, Anko." He leaned forward, cerulean eyes staring into brown with compassion, their faces inches apart. "That, is the promise of a lifetime."

Their lips met, and the fire roared back to life with a vengeance.

He moved from her mouth, trailing kisses down the side of her neck, until he reached her curse mark. Kissing it, his eyes became red and slitted, and his canines lengthened into youki sharpened fangs.

Giving it once last kiss, He opened his mouth, and bit into the soft flesh of her shoulder.

Anko stiffened, her eyes on Naruto's own curse mark. It seemed to pulse red, before they both blacked out, and saw no more.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5: The Snake and The Fox.

**A/N: I know some of you might be confused about what happened in the last chapter, but trust me in this, all will make sense in time.**

**And by time, I mean this chapter.**

**Which you are reading.**

**I hope.**

**...**

**I'll shut up now.**

**Anko's Mindscape…**

Naruto's eyes snapped open, darting around, viewing everything in front of him. He was in what appeared to be a large throne room, like the ones that royalty use. This one was dimly lit with candles, the throne itself hidden in the shadows.

"Kukuku…What do we have here?"

A dark, sibilant voice whispered from the throne. A pair of golden-yellow eyes snapped open, locking onto Naruto and glinting evilly. "It seems like the Kyuubi child has come to visit me…how..._nice_."

Naruto narrowed his eyes furiously on the golden, floating orbs. "Let Ko-chan go, you bastard!" He shouted.

"Kukuku…so _angry_. Did I steal little Anko-chan from you?" the eyes asked teasingly. "I'm afraid that she isn't here at the present time…I'm in control here."

Naruto stared down the eyes until they shone with unease. "What?" They hissed angrily, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Red youki began to swirl around Naruto. "You think that you are in control here, you bastard?" The youki became a shroud as he tensed. "Let me tell you something, Orochimaru." His red, slitted eyes stared into the uneasy yellow ones. "As long as Anko has the will to fight you, you don't control jack-shit here."

The room began to shake as the youki became a maelstrom. Naruto suddenly roared, "KYUUBI!" The room quaked violently, sending chunks of the ceiling thundering down as a thirty-story fox rose from Naruto's body. The roof crumbled, unable to contain the height and power of the Kyuubi, with shafts of sunlight illuminating the room.

The light revealed a swallow-skin man, with the features of a snake. His normally sneering face instead wore a look of fear. Orochimaru darted from the black throne he had situated himself on, heading towards a door that had been previously unseen.

A giant fox paw, quick as a flash, descended on the snake, pinning him to the floor and beginning to crush him under the weight. **"Where do you think you're going, snake?"** The Kyuubi growled menacingly. The paw shifted in form, just barely, until it became a clawed, furred hand with a thumb.

Lifting the struggling snake from the floor, Kyuubi brought him to his sneering face, which looked positively horrifying on the giant fox. **"I would devour you…but you are so tainted, I would probably die from stomach ache."**

The fox began to squeeze, and the snake's head began to bulge under duress. "You…can't…kill…me!" The fragment of Orochimaru squeaked. "I…am…IMMORTAL!"

"**No, human,"** The Kyuubi stopped squeezing, bringing him closer to his face, staring him right in his eye. **"You…are pathetic."** The fox clenched his hand tightly.

**BAM!**

With the sound of a rubber ball being popped, the snake burst into black mist that blew away with a sudden breeze.

Kyuubi roared in victory.

Naruto walked towards the door, and pushed it open gently at the sound of sobbing. Inside, he found a young girl, about eleven, her purple hair in a ponytail, clutching her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth in a small ball.

"Why, sensei, why?" She kept crying.

Naruto approached her, gently laying a hand on her back and rubbing in soothing circles. "Hey, hey," He murmured, making the girl look up in shock, and shy away from contact.

"Wh-who are you?" She stammered fearfully, "Are-are you gonna hurt me like sensei did?"

She was surprised when he leaned forward suddenly, wrapping her in a tight hug. She stiffened, and began to struggle, but froze when she heard sniffling. He drew away, and she was surprised to see him with tears in his eyes.

_They're so blue…_ She thought, _just like HIS eyes…_ "Who are you?" She asked again.

The tears began to stream down his face, flowing across whisker-marked cheeks before dripping off his chin. "Please…" He whispered. "Please remember…Ko-chan."

Her eyes widened, and she leaned forward, gripping her head as memories rushed to the forefront of her mind.

_(Memories:)_

"_Ko-chan! Ko-chan!" A boy with sunny blonde hair, bright, cerulean blue eyes, and tanned whisker-marked cheeks tugged on her sleeve as they sat at a broken down table in a dingy apartment. _

"_What is it, Naru-kun?" She asked, smiling at the blonde's excitement. "And what did I say about calling me nee-chan?"_

'_Naru-kun' pouted. "But, Ko-chan…" He whined, "You aren't my nee-chan! I don't want you to be my nee-chan! You're Ko-chan! Not 'Ko-nee-chan'!" He hugged her tightly, looking up at her and smiling. "I don't want a nee-chan. I only want Ko-chan."_

_It hurt slightly that 'Naru-kun' didn't view her as a sister, but it warmed her heart that he only liked her for her. She playfully ruffled his hair. "Aww, who's so sweet?"_

_The little blonde frowned and pulled away, crossing his arms. "I was serious, Ko-chan." He gave her a sad look. "Ko-chan?" He asked._

"_What?"_

"_Will…will you marry me?"_

'_Ko-chan' stiffened in shock. "What?"_

"_I said…will you marry me?" Seeing her incredulous look, he quickly waved his hands. "Not right now! I meant…in the future…when we're older…"_

_She thought for a second, then asked, "What about the other girls your age, Naru-kun?"_

_Naru-kun shook his head fervently. "No!" He hugged her again. "Ko-chan's the prettiest, smartest, kindest, most beautiful-est girl! I don't care that you're older than me! And besides…" He clung to her tightly, "You're the only Ko-chan I want..."_

_Her heart melted, and she hugged him back. "Okay, Naru-kun. I'll marry you when we're older, okay? I promise."_

_He looked at her with bright, happy eyes. "You mean it?" He asked hopefully._

"_Uh-huh!" She nodded. "How about this: when I get back from my trip with my sensei, I'll go on a date with you, and we'll spend all our time together!"_

"_Really? Yay! I love you, Ko-chan!" he squeezed her tighter._

_She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling softly. "I love you too, Naru-kun…" She whispered._

_**Two Years Later…**_

_**After Orochimaru's betrayal and the application of the curse mark…**_

_Anko walked down the street, sneering at the people who glared at her._

_A young boy, with blonde hair, blue eyes and whisker marks saw her, and his eyes lit up with joy. _

"_Ko-chan!" He shouted, running towards her. _

_Anko's memory twinged, but settled, and she held hand out, stopping the blonde from hugging her. "Stop it! I don't know who you are, so don't go calling me 'Ko-chan', brat."_

_His eyes were confused and filled with hurt. Anko felt a spark of guilt, but she squashed it ruthlessly. _

"_B-but, Ko-chan…"_

_She scowled and pushed him away from her. He tripped over his feet and landed on his butt, and she yelled at him, "I said DON'T call me that!"_

_His lower lip trembled, and his eye filled with tears. Shooting up quickly, he ran away, sobbing._

_Anko was confused as to why the brat acted like that, and felt a little bad. She was even more confused when the people around her, instead of glaring at her, gave her appraising looks. _

_That was the night Naruto Uzumaki disappeared._

_And Anko Mitarashi couldn't help but feel responsible._

_(Memory: End)_

The eleven-year old Anko looked up at the blonde man sitting next to her. Her eyes flickered over his hair, his eyes, and his whiskers. The image of a five year-old blonde with the same features super-imposed itself over him, and suddenly, memories of the past eight years, the glares, the hatred, and the loneliness made itself known.

Anko gasped as her memory filled in the blanks. She looked at the blonde, and ventured, "Naru-kun?"

Naruto stiffened, and his eyes locked on hers, filled with hope. "Ko-chan? Is…is that you? Really you?"

Anko threw herself on him, bowling him over. This worried him. "Ko-chan? What's the matter? Why are you crying?"

Tears streamed down her face, soaking Naruto's chest. "I'm…I'm so sorry!" She clutched him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "I didn't remember you, and I pushed you away!"

Naruto's heart soared, and he separated from her gently, just enough so that they were face-to-face. He cupped her cheek, smiling at her through their mutual tears. "I don't care, Ko-chan. I meant what I said, all the way back then, and I still mean it now." He wiped her tears away with his thumb. "I love you, Ko-chan. I always have."

Something clicked in Anko's mind, and her body began to age as her memories flowed together, and as their lips met, she became her current age, nineteen. Their surroundings literally dissolved into black powder, until her mindscape resembled Training Ground Ten.

They parted, and Anko opened her eyes. Her brown orbs met Naruto's blue. She smiled, not smirk or a feral grin, but a true smile; the first one in years.

"I love you too, Naru-kun."

…

They were jerked out of her mindscape by the water of the shower turning cold. Naruto focused on Anko's no-longer-cursed seal, watching as it flaked away, leaving only unblemished skin behind.

He pulled back, coming face-to-face with Anko. She smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Naru-kun. Thank you so much…you freed me from that torture." She whispered in his ear. "And you made me remember everything."

She pulled back, and moved forward, until their lips were just inches away. "I still owe you a date."

Naruto put his finger on her lips, halting her forward progress. "Ko-chan…while I would love to taste your amazing lips again, and trust me, I will, we need to get out of the shower before we catch a cold."

He leaned over her, shutting off the water, then scooped her up bridal-style, and carried her to the bedroom.

Naruto set her on her feet, his hands wrapped around her torso. Her bra clasp snapped open, and his arms pulled away, along with the undergarment. Anko bent over and shimmied out of her panties, leaving herself as bare as the day she was born, with Naruto shedding his pants and underwear as well, both tossing the soaked garments away.

While she was naked before him, Naruto's eyes never left hers. He leaned forwards, capturing her lips with his in a chaste kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing herself against his chest, until they both fell back onto the bed.

They stared into each other's eyes after they broke away. Anko was the first to speak.

"Stay with me tonight, Naruto."

He smiled at her gently, and pulled her closer to him. "I will always stay with you, Anko. Always."

…

You (the reader) are probably expecting a lemon warning here.

Yeah…no.

They just slept in the same bed (albeit naked), but no. No sexy time.

Not yet, anyways.

Heheh.

…

**The Next Morning, Hokage's Office…**

Sarutobi sighed and ran a hand through his sliver hair. Standing in front of him, was Anko and Naruto, with their arms around each other, and smiles on their faces.

"So, Anko, Naruto, tell me if I got this right," He started, "Anko, you gave your team your genin test. During the test, Naruto approached you without any weapons. Naruto, you came up with a plan involving your teammates to 'seduce' Anko to distract her, and when you gave the signal, complete the test. Am I right so far?"

They both nodded.

"Okay. When you went to 'distract' Anko, things got…out of hand, correct? Your teammates, Shino Aburame, and Ino Yamanaka, completed the test, and then, according to Shino, both of you left. What happened after that?" The Hokage asked.

Naruto, wearing his green robes, pulled the collar of Anko's shirt, which she was wearing under her mesh, to the side, showing off her clear, seal-free skin. The Hokage's eyes widened, to the point that they threatened to pop out of his head.

"Wha-? How-? Huh?" He made his intelligent observation.

He shook the shock out of his system, and gave them a glare that said, 'explain, now'.

Naruto cleared his throat, and began to regale the old man with his tale, leaving out certain things, such as the inclusion of the Kyuubi, simply stating that he entered her seal, fought the fragment of Orochimaru's soul with help from Anko, and defeated it, allowing Anko her memories back, and destroying the seal.

"I see…" the shocked, but not showing it, Professor muttered. He fixed Naruto with a heavy look. "Next time, tell me, okay? I would have preferred to not risk the lives of one of my greatest kunochi."

Then, he broke out laughing. Anko and Naruto looked at each other, then simultaneously took a step back from the Hokage.

"You two do realize that you will have to explain all of this to your teammates, right?" At their horrified look, he burst out laughing again.

The door to the office opened, and in walked Shino, as silent as ever, and Ino, with a questioning look on her face as she looked at Naruto and Anko standing so close to each other.

…

**The Dango Bar…**

"…and that is pretty much the whole deal." Naruto finished.

Ino looked shocked and awed, her jaw almost hitting the floor. Shino would have been in the same position, had he not been wearing his jacket.

"Wow…you really risked your life to save Anko-sensei?" Ino asked.

Naruto nodded. Ino just shook her head. "Wow." she said again. She gained a sad look. "I wish I had someone who would do that for me…"

"You do, Ino."

The platinum blonde looked up in surprise and confusion. "B-but…?" Naruto smiled at her. "We're more than just teammates, Ino." Her heart skipped a beat, but sank at his next words. "We're friends, and I would risk my life for my friends."

Ino smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah…friends…"

Anko noticed how sad Ino was, and decided to talk to the blonde later. "Alright, you guys, yesterday, before we were…indisposed, you guys came up with a plan, and executed it well." She smiled at all of them, then continued. "The plan was exactly how I needed you guys to act. For, you see, this squad isn't a frontline squad, but, in actuality, a Torture," She pointed at Shino, "Interrogation," She pointed at Ino, "And Assassination." And finally, Naruto. "Our purpose is to slip in quietly, and either take out the target, or torture and interrogate them for info. We are a specialized squad, so, before we take any Missions, we need to work on teamwork, and learning our roles, while also learning the other's roles, to use if our teammates are indisposed."

Naruto raised a hand. Anko nodded at him, and he spoke. "While I specialize in Assassination, I am also accomplished Interrogator/Torturer. So, what I propose, is that you, sensei, take Ino and start her on a workout and training regime. Out of our team, she needs it the most."

"Hey!"

Shino shook his head at Ino's outburst. "It is true, Ino-san. You do need the most work done to be ready for missions."

Ino slumped over, and Naruto spoke up quickly. "Don't worry, Ino, it's not a bad thing. Out of all of us, that means you are the most malleable, and that is a good thing."

She perked up slightly, but Anko had a question. "Um, Naruto, what about you and Shino?"

Naruto pulled out a small slip of paper, and said, "Shino and I will be working on his tai- and ninjutsu repertoire, as well as increasing his physical capabilities, along with learning the art of Assassination. Say, for about a month, and then we switch? Ino should be up to a good level by then, and Shino will need to learn the process of T&I, while I teach her about Assassination, as well as some taijutsu, along with ninjutsu."

Anko nodded, and her grin turned evil. "Now, Ino, Shino, it's time to kiss your parents goodbye, because for the next two months…your asses will belong to me."

Ino and Shino began to sweat, but the bug-user noticed something off about her statement. "Anko-sensei?"

"Yes?"

Shino pointed at Naruto. "What about Naruto-san?"

Anko wrapped an arm around Naruto and pulled him tight against her shoulder. "His cute ass has belonged to me for a long time!"

…

In the back of the dango stand, a red-eyed, raven-haired beauty of a woman narrowed her eyes at the robed man currently being pressed against her friend Anko.

_Something is different about Anko,_ the woman thought. _She's carrying herself a different way, and dressing in an actual decent style._

Her eyes focused on the robed stranger._ And I bet it has something to do with that man. And I WILL find out what. _


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The First C-Rank

Two months passed by quicker than most would think, and by that time, Ino and Shino had changed, for the better. Anko would be the first to admit that it was mostly Naruto's doing. She had mostly instructed them, but Naruto taught them how to apply their new skills in the field.

The first month, Anko grabbed Ino and dragged her off to training ground forty-four, or the Forest of Death as it was better known, with several books on human anatomy and a lot of sharp objects, and completely disappeared for the entire time.

The first thing Naruto did with Shino, was spar. Well, Naruto called it a spar. In reality, it was Naruto completely picking apart Shino's taijutsu, then knocking him unconscious. After that, Naruto gave him a slip of chakra paper, and found that Shino was an Earth-type.

Naruto gave him a few earth jutsu from his dad's library, to add some defence, as well as offence, to his repetoire.

For the rest of the month, Naruto had Shino come up with creative ways to use his kikai bugs and his earth jutsu, as well as teaching him how to blend in with a crowd, how to pickpocket with ease, and how to interrogate a target. During this time, Naruto gave Shino clothes that didn't look creepy, including a camouflage jacket, brown pants, green sandals, and black goggles to cover his eyes.

Shino also was given a tanto, which Naruto instructed him in its' use. They worked out every morning for four hours, including kenjutsu, with genjutsu and ninjutsu following.

They did this for a month, and at the end, in congratualtions for his hard work, Naruto presented Shino with a beautifully crafted tanto that Naruto had made himself at the forge in the Namikaze Estate.

And then, Anko and Naruto traded.

Ino looked completely different. Her hair was cut shorter, she wore less purple, and showed the same amount of skin. But, it seemed that her previous fangirl personality had disappeared; or, more likely, had it beaten out of her by Anko.

Naruto found that Ino was a lightning element, and since he was as well, trained her in its' uses very effectively. During the month, they focused on building Ino's chakra reserves, muscles and flexibility. He also trained her in the uses of small weapons, such as senbon, kunai, his own personal throwing knives, daggers and knives, as well as poisons, medicine and various other things.

And now, in the Namikaze Estate, at the end of the month, we come to find Ino walking into the smithy, where Naruto had told her to meet him.

"Naruto?" Ino cracked open the door, and almost slammed it shut immediately. It was swelteringly hot inside the smithy, and Naruto had his shirt off so he would not overheat. Ino watched his toned, sweaty body as he pounded away at a hot hunk of metal, shaping and folding the metal into a useable form.

He clamped the tongs on the metal and dunked it into the bucket next to him. He looked up and saw Ino staring at him, a blush clear on her face. He smiled at her and killed the forge, pulling on a shirt as he did.

"Good, Ino, you're here," Naruto said, walking over to a chest on the side of the room and popping the top. He reached into the chest and pulled a few cloth-wrapped items from it. "I have some gifts for you, that I think you'll like."

He handed the gifts off to her, and leaned against a worktable, a smile on his face. Ino stared at the items in her hands, weighing them, trying to guess what they were.

"Well, are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna unwrap them?" Naruto's voice sounded amused, and Ino blushed in embaressment.

Ino pulled the cloth away from the longest item, and gasped at what she saw. It was a beautiful dagger, slightly curved and very deadly and elegant looking, with a carving of a rose in full bloom on the blade.

Ino's eyes teared up, and she clutched the dagger to her chest. She saw Naruto smiling gently at her, and she threw herself at him, almost knocking him off his feet with the hug.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, Naruto!" She cried, holding him tightly. Naruto hugged her back, and she relaxed into his warm arms. He whispered into her ear, "You deserve it, Ino. This weapon is a sign that I believe that you can be a great kunochi. I imbued it with poison, so even a small cut should end a fight before it starts."

Ino pulled back, wiping her eyes, and smiling through watery eyes. "But, that isn't all. You forgot the other one." Naruto picked up the other package, and unwrapped it before Ino's eyes.

He held in his hands a pair of studded leather gloves, with metal plates interspersed through out the back of them. The gloves were attached to leather and metal bracers, that held senbon launchers and dart throwers, all loaded to capacity with their ammunition.

"These are gloves based off of my own Metal Cestus, except more elegant, and fitting for a woman. The metal sown into the gloves wil provide an extra punch to your physical blows. They weigh more than your average glove, so you will have to get used to them. Attached are bracers with senbon and poison dart launchers, filled to the brim with all the ammuntion you need." Naruto held the gloves out, opening first. "Come here, let me help you put these on."

Ino held out a hand, and he pushed the bracer on gently. He took her fingers in his hands and slipped the corresponding parts of the glove on. Ino felt her breath catch as he held her hand for a second longer, gently brushing his thumbs over her knuckles, before he dropped her hand, and picked her other up, doing the same process as before.

Naruto held her hands, checking to see if the gloves had gone on right. "They are comfortable, right?"

"Yeah…" She breathed, staring at his face as he worried over her. It made her heart flutter as he held her hands in his grip, the warmth she felt reaching through her whole body. She stared into his cerulean blue eyes, eyes that held warmth for her.

Before she knew what she was doing, she flew at him, wrapping her arms around him and smashing her lips against his. Ino held herself there, in his embrace, and felt at peace.

For a second, anyway.

Naruto came to his senses, and pulled her off him roughly. She tumbled to the floor, letting out a yelp of surprise.

"Ino! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Naruto yelled. Ino struggled to her feet and shot a glare at him.

"I was kissing you, Naruto! What did you think I was doing?" She shot back.

"Why, Ino? You know I'm in love with Anko!" He towered over her, confusion and grief on his face.

Ino seemed to lose all will to fight, and crumpled in on herself, falling to her knees and holding herself in her arms. She began to cry, tears running down her cheeks.

Naruto knelt next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She launched herself at him, and began to sob into his chest.

"Why don't you love me? Why, Naruto?"

Naruto hugged her, and whispered, "I do love you, Ino, I do. But…I didn't want you to suffer like this because of me."

Ino's tears stopped, and she tearily looked up at him from his arms. "What do you mean, suffer?"

Naruto sighed, and was brought back to the time he had to explain to Anko the CRA. "Ino…you know how you are in a clan, right? Do you know about the law passed by the Shodaime concerning new clans, or clans on the verge of extinction?"

Ino thought hard for a second, then her eyes widened. "You mean…'that' law? The one my dad said you would be under?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. The CRA. The Clan Restoration/Creation Act. It means that I will have to practice polygamy, for the sake of rasing a new clan." His eyes dropped, and he refuesd to look her in the face. "I didn't…I didn't want you to have to share me."

She made to rebuke him, but he put a finger on lips. "You deserve a man who will give you all his time and energy, and with my job, and a clan…I wouldn't be able to."

Ino looked at him with an unreadable expression in her eyes.

Then, she slapped him across the face.

He stared at her in shock, before she grabbed his head and pulled him into a passionate kiss. When they broke apart, she looked him right in the eyes and said, "Naruto, I don't care about all that crap. All I want is to be with you."

Naruto smiled and embbraced her tightly. "Ino…thank you."

Ino laid her head against his chest as he ran his hands through her hair. "You don't need to thank me…you big dummy…"

They sat in the forge like that for awhile, just holding each other and basking in one another's presence.

…

**The Missions Office…**

Anko, Ino, Naruto and Shino met each other at the doors to the Missions Office, where Anko suspicsiously winked at both Naruto and Ino.

They walked in to the Office, ready for their first mission. Anko headed straight towards the C-Rank section, and grabbed a scroll before the man at the desk could complain.

"Alright! It seems like we need to deliver an important document to Kusa!" Anko looked around at her team, and wilted at the lack of reactions from them. "Or, you know, we could do a bunch of D-Ranks instead!"

Naruto and Ino both waved their hands frantically, while Shino just shook his head.

"Alright! Then back your bags for a two-week long trip, and meet me at the East Gate in an hour!"

…

They made their way through the trees, towards Kusa, traveling light after Naruto had sealed all of their things into a scroll. It took them three days, but they made it to the border, where they were to meet a genin squad and hand the document over.

Naruto, on the second day of border watching, finally spotted a group of Kusa ninja heading their way.

He jumped down from the tree, landing in the middle of camp and said, "The Kusa shinobi are on the way. They will be at the meeting place in about twenty minutes."

Anko nodded, while the other genin stood and dusted themselves off. "Alright, let's get to the bridge and meet up with them."

They made their way to the bridge, where the meeting would go down. Anko and the genin hid in the bushes, and waited for the Kusa-nin to show up.

Half an hour later, the Kusa-nin had still not shown up, and Team 10 was getting antsy.

"Where the hell are they?" Anko whispered harshly.

She was answered by a feminine scream. Team 10 jumped up, preparing weapons.

A Kusa kunochi in a tan coat, with black shorts, wearing glasses over her pupil-less red eyes, with the Kusa headband on her forehead screamed as she rounded the bend to the border, where the Konoha team was supposed to be waiting.

The bandit behind put on a burst of speed and tackled the kunochi to the ground. He leered down at her as she curled up into a ball, whimpering. "Well now, what do we have here? Looks like I get have some fu-" He was cut off by a small throwing knife burying itself into his throat. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his neck, gurgling, as blood poured out of his mouth.

The kunochi cried out as the bandit fell to the side, dead. She backed away and crawled to her knees, staring at the corpse.

"Are you alright?" A deep voice asked her, as a gloved hand was held out before her face.

She looked at the glove for second, then followed the limb up to the arm, the shoulder and finally the face of her savior.

His blue eyes radiated concern and warmth, and the kunochi found herself blushing despite the situation. _His chakra feels so…warm. Calming and friendly. Who is he?_

"Y-yeah, I'm alright." She took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. She stumbled, still in shock, and almost fell, had he not caught her.

She blushed harder as she felt his chest through his robes, and sighed quietly in contentment at being in his warm, strong arms.

Naruto looked down at the girl holding on to him, and couldn't help but feel protective. And he didn't even know her name.

"Excuse me miss, but what's your name?" He asked gently. She looked up into his eyes and breathlessly said, "My…my name is Karin."

"Karin…a beautiful name fo a beautiful girl," He smiled at her, bringing one of her hands to his lips and kissing it. She flushed bright red, a small embarressed smile on her face.

"The byplay's nice and all," Karin jumped at the sound of Anko's voice. "But where's the rest of your squad?"

Karin lost all previous color, and started babbling about bandits. Apparently, while on their way to the border, they had been ambushed by a roaming group of bandits, the leader of whom was a former samurai.

Team 10 and Karin headed back to where they had been ambushed, and began to track the bandits back to their camp. On the way their, they had come across the body of one of Karin's male teammates. Naruto sealed the body into a scroll, and comforted Karin, who was crying heavily.

…

The bandit camp was in a clearing, the tents in a circle around a large bonfire, where the bandits sat, their leader sitting in a big chair with a hunk of meat in one hand.

"Son of a bitch…" A patrolling bandit muttered to himself, "The leader goes off and captures that hot piece of ninja ass, and I'm stuck out here? Dammit…"

He walked around the corner of the path, and spotted one of the other guards leaning against a tree. "Hey, Haibachi, this sucks, huh? We got to patrol while everyone else has fun, and we get the leftovers."

That was when the bandit noticed something wrong with Haibachi, namely the vacant look in his eyes, and the blood dribbling from his mouth. He didn't have a chance to make a sound as a blade was jammed into the base of his skull, killing him.

Naruto pulled the body back into the bushes, and moved forward down the path, back towards the camp. He climbed a tree to get a better view of the camp, and watched as the leader stood, and raised his arm.

"Bring out the entertainment!" He roared. What Naruto saw made his blood boil. The Kusa jonin and the other genin were dragged out, gagged and bound, stripped to their underwear. The women had tears in their eyes as the leader strutted over to them, and picked up the genin.

"Ah, fresh meat," he licked his lips as the bandits cheered. His hand moved from her face to her chest, when he heard sharp whistling from the trees.

A hail of kunai and shuriken flew out of the trees, cutting down several of the bandits and injuring several others.

Naruto jumped down from his perch, unsheathing his blades as he fell, landing and driving them into the back of the head of two bandits on guard. He stood and drew his daggers, holding them in a reverse grip. The bandits were still looking into the trees for the throwers, so he had no problem moving among them silently, and cutting them down. Anko, Ino and Shino jumped down from the trees and engaged the remainder of the forces, while Karin stayed in the background throwing shuriken.

The last of the bandits fell, and the leader was surrounded by ninja. Knowing he was outclassed, he grabbed the other Kusa genin, and held her hostage, with his katana to her throat.

"Back off!" He screamed hysterically. "Back off or I swear I'll kill her!"

Naruto looked towards Anko, and winked.

In a puff of smoke, the kunochi was were Naruto was, and Naruto was in the bandits grip.

Naruto pushed the arm holding the blade to his throat up and away, simultaneously driving his elbow into the ronin's stomach. He stumbled back, out of breath, as Naruto jumped and spun, kicking him in the face. He recovered and charged, holding his katana above his head.

Naruto deflected the blade with his bracer, grabbing him around the wrist and twisting, the yanking the blade from his grasp and turning it on him.

Naruto slashed open his stomach and spun again, driving the blade through the ronin's chest, ending his life.

He pulled the bloodstained blade from the corpse's chest, and gave it a gentle push. It hit the ground with a dull thud, and did not move. Naruto turned to the rest of his team, and dropped the katana on the ground.

He approached the Kusa jonin and genin, who were being comforted by Karin, and laid a hand on their shoulders.

"Now, how about we get you home?" He said gently.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Onward To Wave!

Naruto and co. escorted Karin and the other Kusa genin back to Kusa, where they were received by the Kusakage with open arms. While he was sad that the male genin had been killed, the Kusakage thanked Team 10 profusely for returning most of the team unharmed.

It took about a week for their original mission to be completed, because the important documents were, in fact, a trade agreement between Kusa and Konoha. The week, for the Kusakage, was spent finalizing the documents.

During that week, Naruto took Anko and Ino on dates around Kusagakure, getting to see the sights and taste the food. He also got know more about Karin, as well as spend some time with her. He found that she was a genin, had been for a year, liked to use poisons and throwing weapons, and could sense people's chakra. He also found out that her hair and eye color were natural.

At the end of the week, the documents had been finalized, and Team 10 were about to set off home. Karin and the remainder of her team had come to see them off, as well as the Kusakage.

Karin shyly asked Naruto, "This was one of the best weeks I've ever had, Naruto-kun. Will I ever see you again?"

Naruto took a small scroll out of his pouch, unrolled it and summoned forth a large, ornate scroll, decorated with several depictions of birds. He unrolled it to show the inside, which was a very complex seal, with several boxes around it, one that was filled with the name, 'Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze'.

Karin gasped. "This…this is a summoning scroll!"

Naruto nodded in affirmation. "Indeed. All you have to do is cut your finger, sign your name in blood, and then make a hand-print in blood as well."

Shocked, Karin just stared at him, before shaking herself. "But…why? Why would you let me sign this? You've only known me for a week!"

Naruto shrugged. "Eh. I trust you. And no offense, but you don't have the chakra capacity for the real big birds. At most you could summon a couple pigeons before getting too tired."

"Oh." Karin blinked. "But, why are you letting me sign?"

He smiled at her. "The pigeons are very good message carriers. This way, we could keep in contact over long distances."

A smile spread across Karin's face, and she hugged Naruto fiercely.

…

Before they left, after Karin had signed the Bird's contract, and giving Naruto a very small, chaste kiss, the jonin of Karin's team and the other genin, hugged the members of Team 10 in thanks. Waving to the Kusakage, Karin and her team, they began to run down the road, towards home.

Before long, Anko heard the cry of a messenger hawk. Stopping and holding out her arm, the hawk flew down and landed. She read the message, gaining an exasperated look as she did. She wrote a reply, attached it to the hawk's leg, and sent it off.

Turning to her team, she sighed. "It looks like Kakashi's team ran into some trouble heading down to Wave. They continued the mission after finding out the client lied about the mission's rank, and after running into two chunin missing-nin. They met a jonin, got into a fight, and survived, but Kakashi is injured and they are now calling for back-up."

"And we are the only team close enough to provide support?" Naruto guessed.

Anko nodded. "Exactly. So, we're heading to Wave."

…

Two days of running, a long boat ride and an hour of searching later, Team 10 found their way to Wave, and the client's house, a man named 'Tazuna'.

When they got there, as Anko raised her hand to knock on the door, they heard a scream come from the inside.

"NO! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? I WILL NOT GO OUT WITH YOU!"

They heard some mumbles, then the voice rose again, and Naruto muffled a snicker. He recognized that voice.

"GAH! DEAR GOD, GET AWAY FROM ME! SOMEBODY, HELP! I'M BEING RAPED BY A FANGIRL!"

Anko slid the door open, and came upon a comical sight. Kakashi sat at a round table, reading his porn, Kiba was grooming Akamaru, and Sakura was chasing Sasuke around the room, while an old man drank deeply from a bottle of sake, and a brown-haired woman wearing a pink sweater giggled at the scene, and a boy wearing a bucket-hat scowled at everyone.

"Sakura, stop trying to rape your teammate," Kakashi said lazily. Sasuke muttered, 'Thank you," but Kakashi wasn't finished. "Wait until everyone's asleep, then tie him up and then rape him. Just gag him so we don't hear the crying, hmm?" He flipped a page of his porn nonchalantly, while Sasuke roared, "YOU BASTARD!"

Seeing the glazed over eyes of Sakura, Sasuke threw up his hands and yelled, "That's it! I'm sleeping outside!"

He turned to storm out of the house, but stopped short when he saw Naruto and Team 10 looking at him, shaking with repressed laughter.

He shook his head and flipped them off. "Screw you guys! I'm going outside!"

Team 10 burst out into laughter, even Shino. They doubled over, gasping for breath, as Kakashi eye-smiled at them. "So, you're our backup?"

Anko wiped a tear from her eye and straightened up. "Yeah. What's the situation?"

Kakashi lost the smile. "We ran into the missing-nin, the Demon Brothers of the Mist, defeated them and tied them up, before we found out about Wave's problems, from Tazuna. Apparently Gato, of Gato Shipping, has a stranglehold on Wave's income and resources, and is choking the life out of this place. The bridge that Tazuna is building will free Wave from Gato. While we were on our way here, we were ambushed by Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist. We fought, and I managed to injure him, but he has an accomplice that saved him from death. That's all."

Naruto perked up at the name Zabuza, his hand going to his pouch.

Anko nodded, and asked, "What are you thinking? You know Zabuza isn't dead, and that he has an accomplice."

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, we know. I figured with the amount of damage he sustained, Zabuza won't be up for about four more days, so I started the team on tree walking to help build up their reserves and control."

Anko gaped at Kakashi. "You're just now starting them on tree walking? That's a skill most genin learn in the first week!"

The cyclops rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Uhhh, well…their teamwork really needed work…"

Anko smacked the back of his head, muttering, "Lazy, one-eyed jack-ass."

…

The next five days passed by with only one small incident with Inari, Tsunami's son. One night, after a joke that had everyone laughing, he stood up and slammed his hands onto the table loudly, and shouted, "How can you be so happy? Don't you know what's going on? You're all gonna die!"

Naruto replied, "We're being happy because we can. We do know what's going on, but we can't let that get us down, otherwise we'd lose our minds. And trust me, this is not the worst place I've seen. Maybe the top five, but definitely not the first."

Inari scowled and yelled, "How can you say that? You don't even know what misery is!"

The room fell silent. A small amount of killing intent landed on Inari, coming from Sasuke, as well as Naruto. Without a word, Sasuke stood from the table, and walked out of the door.

Naruto shook his head. "Kid, that was possibly the worst thing you could have said to us. When I was your age, I didn't have a family, friends, or anyone to count on. Sasuke? His entire family was killed in front of him by his brother. The village we're from, treated me like an outcast, a pariah. They treated Sasuke like a prince, just because he was the last of his clan." Naruto's eyes hardened. "Every time someone proclaimed him as the last Uchiha, he would remember the faces of his dead family. Every time I was called a monster, a brat, a demon, I remembered that I had no one. Sasuke and I are alike. We don't have anyone to count, to love. The difference is, I'm finding people who care about me, for me, while he only has himself." Naruto stood from the table as well. "I'm going to find Sasuke. No one should be alone, especially angry." He turned to Inari. "Kid, I may not know the 'misery' that you are going through, but you should know…there are always people, who have it worse than you."

He walked to the door, opened it, and paused. "And they just happened to be in the room."

…

Naruto found Sasuke, punching a tree as hard as he could. When Sasuke finally calmed down, Naruto wrapped his hands in bandages, and sat down next to him.

"That kid…" Sasuke muttered.

Naruto just nodded. "He doesn't know what true misery is. Caught up in his little world of brooding and feeling sorry for himself." He nudged Sasuke, a small smile on his face. "Kinda like you used to be, huh?"

Sasuke shook his head and sighed. "Yeah…but I was never that bad."

No comment.

"Screw you, Naruto."

Naruto chuckled. "You never shouted about how bad you had it, but you still pushed people away with your attitude. 'People' being several women who want to get in your pants, you gay bastard."

Sasuke scowled at Naruto. "You know I'm not gay! I just haven't found a girl who likes me for me, not me for being 'the last Uchiha'."

Naruto patted his back. "Don't worry, man. I'm sure that you'll find someone, someday. Just don't wait to long, alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah…someday."

"Hey, don't sound so down!" Naruto said, "I'll be there to help you find the right one. Because, without my help, you end up marrying the first woman you meet who isn't interested in you."

Sasuke gave Naruto a questioning look. "Why do you want to help me, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head. "Let's just say that your ambition and mine are a lot alike. I too want to kill a certain man. His interference led to my sensei's death. And I want revenge."

Sasuke thought for a moment, before cutting his palm with a kunai and sticking it out to Naruto. "Naruto, what about this: I'll help you kill that man, and you help me kill my brother. We swear on our blood as future clan heads, to an alliance between the Uchiha, and your clan."

Naruto looked at the blood dripping from Sasuke's palm, and thought. Then, he pulled his glove off, and cut his palm as well. They shook hands, sealing the deal.

"Who'd think, the Uchiha and the Namikaze, making an alliance?" Naruto said jokingly. Sasuke smiled, and they bumped fists as a sign of respect.

Tired from the day, they leaned their backs against one another, and fell asleep.

…

The next morning, Sasuke and Naruto made their way back to the house, only to find that the rest of the genin and jonin had gone to the bridge earlier. Tsunami made them some breakfast, and as they ate, they heard knocking on the door.

Gesturing for Tsunami to stay down, they stealthily crept to the door. Sasuke took up the flanking position, and Naruto drew a dagger. He reached a hand out to slide the door open, when all of a sudden, it was kicked open by a man with no shirt and a katana. He looked surprised to see Naruto standing there, and he was even more surprised when a Cestus-covered fist smashed into his throat.

The man clutched his throat and gasped, falling to his knees. Naruto grabbed him by the head and kneed him in the face, then dodged back to avoid a swipe from a man with an eye patch.

He lured the man inside, dodging his swings all the time, until he was inside the door, with his back turned to Sasuke. Sasuke, seeing his chance, jumped forward and struck the man in the back of the head with the ring of his kunai, knocking him out.

They dragged the unconscious men outside and tied them to a tree with ninja wire. Inari, who had come downstairs after hearing the commotion, watched in shock as two of Gato's top thugs were defeated easily.

Naruto and Sasuke interrogated the two swordsmen in an embarrassing fashion. The one with the eye-patch nearly cried when Naruto attempted to break his rusty sword, and began to babble about the bridge, and how Gato was heading there to catch Zabuza when he was weak, and kill Tazuna, and how Tsunami was supposed to be insurance.

Naruto knocked both men out again, untied them, and then disappeared into the forest. When he came back, he came back alone.

Tsunami, in tears, asked them to go to the bridge and save her father. Naruto gave her a reassuring hug, and promised that they would save her father. Inari watched as they sped off, feeling determination for the first time in a long time. He ran away from his mother, calling out that if they were facing Gato, they would need help.

…

Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the bridge, to find it covered in mist, with a dome of ice mirrors covering part of it.

Naruto motioned for Sasuke to stay back, and walked forward slightly to the beginning of the bridge, and calling out, "Zabuza Momochi! I have a message to deliver to you from the Mizukage of Kirigakure!"

The sounds of metal clashing faded, and Zabuza appeared out of the mist in front of them, Kubikiri Hocho set across his shoulders, a frown easily seen through the bandages covering his face.

"The Mizukage? What does that old bastard want with me now?" He said gruffly.

Naruto pulled a scroll from his pocket, and tossed it to Zabuza. "I don't think my fiancé would like you calling her an old hag. In fact, she'd probably melt your balls off."

Confusion appeared in Zabuza's eyes, and he unrolled the scroll. As he read, the mist faded, and Kakashi and Anko appeared stumbled out, covered in small cuts.

Zabuza looked up in surprise. "This says that the rebels killed Yagura! And the leader of the rebels was made the Godaime Mizukage!"

Naruto nodded. "And it's all true. I was there. I've had that scroll for years now. It's a pardon letter from Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, for any of the Seven Swordsmen that I meet."

Zabuza called out, "Haku!" and the dome of mirrors shattered, as a person wearing a Kiri hunter-nin mask and a battle kimono appeared by Zabuza's side.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama?"

Zabuza tossed the scroll to Haku, and happily said, "We can go home! That bloodline-hunting bastard is dead!"

Remembering something, Zabuza turned a confused glance onto Naruto. "Wait! When I called the Mizukage an old bastard, you said that she was your fiancée!"

Naruto looked around sheepishly as Anko, Ino and the rest of the teams stared at him. "It's kinda a long story…" He pointed behind Zabuza, "And we're kinda short on time, as it were."

A midget in a suit, with a cane and sunglasses sneered at the gathered ninja. "So, it seems like the 'Demon of the Mist' is really just a baby demon after all! I knew I should have hired some other missing-nin. Oh well. At least I'll still get the bounties on your head!" He laughed uproariously, the thugs behind him joining in.

Naruto turned to Zabuza. "Well, since we are no longer enemies, how about we have a little contest?"

Zabuza loosened his zanbatou in preparation. "What kind of contest?"

"Let's see who can get the most kills with their sword, eh?" Naruto grinned ferally, unsheathing Altair's blade from his side. Zabuza's eyes fell on the hilt, and he gasped. "You're…?"

Naruto sprinted forward. "You're losing time!"

Freeing several smoke pellets from his pouch, he hurled them into the crowd of thugs as Gato retreated, and Zabuza ran behind him, shouting, "No fair!"

A cloud of smoke engulfed the bridge and the thugs, and Naruto disappeared into it, as did Zabuza. Screaming and the sounds of flesh being cut rent the air, and the other ninja watched in trepidation, unsure of what to do.

A breeze blew the smoke away, revealing several dead bodies scattered around the bridge ("My beautiful bridge!" Tazuna cried), with the smarter thugs circling around Naruto and Zabuza, who were back-to-back. Respective weapons held out in front of them.

"Let me show you what brute force can do!" Zabuza roared, dashing forward and slashing through three of the thugs in one swipe.

Naruto turned to him and grinned saying, "Brute force is fine, but what about finesse?"

Taking advantage of the fact that he was not looking, one of them hopped forward and thrust his sword forward. Without even looking, Naruto deflected the blade to the side and spun, driving his sword into the thug's chest up to the hilt, then ripping it free. The others around him backed off, their eyes darting around.

Last mistake they ever made. Naruto jumped forward and slashed through one of the thug's throat, hopped and jabbed his sword through another's eye, lodged his sword into the collarbone of another, stabbed another in the stomach and then laid his hand on top of his head, and with a thunder-crack, blew his brains across the stones of the bridge.

Another thug tried to slash Naruto, who got under his guard and stabbed him in the stomach then threw him off his blade; he stabbed another in the heart, cut through another's throat with a wide slash; kicked one down and drove his blade through the skull, deflected a blade away with his bracer, slashed the thug up, across the chest and down the back, and shot him in the back of the head.

Naruto smacked the blade out another's hands, stabbed him through the face, and threw the hilt. The thugs head did a full rotation on his neck, and Naruto pulled the blade from his face. He sheathed the sword as three spear-wielding thugs surrounded him. He caught the haft of a spear jabbed at him, twisted, kicked the thug in the shin and pulled the spear from his grasp. He knocked the back of his knees, spun, and jammed the spear through the thug's head, the tip actually sticking out of the thug's backside. Naruto grabbed the spear from one of the others, stabbing him in the chest and pulling up, the thug grasping his chest as the blade was yanked out. The last one came in with a wide slash, which was knocked away, followed by Naruto sending the spear into his eye with a throw.

He pulled three small, round objects from his pouch, bit the wicks and tossed the sparking objects into a group of thugs. With a thundering _**Boom!**_ They were turned into red mist and body parts.

Zabuza saw how easily Washi was decimating the forces against him, and roared, joining the fray, cutting through swords, armor, flesh and bones with wide slashes.

Naruto and Zabuza slaughtered the remaining thugs, until only Gato was left, shivering in a puddle of his own urine. As they stepped forward, he scrambled back in fear. Naruto stepped forward and stomped on his leg, breaking it and making Gato scream in pain. He bent down and hauled Gato up to his face, and spat, "If you tell me where you keep all your cash, maybe I'll let you live!"

The ninja on the other side of the bridge just stared at the carnage decorating the bridge, the water beneath it stained red as the blood ran off in small streams. They shook themselves out of their shock at Naruto's proclamation.

"Wait, what? What's he doing?" Tazuna asked in surprise.

Kakashi frowned for a second, then it clicked, and he laid a hand on Tazuna's shoulder. "He's trying to find out where the money Gato took from Wave is kept, so he can give it back. Also, notice that he never said Zabuza wouldn't kill him."

Gato scribbled down where his base was located, and the codes to the safes where the money was kept. Naruto took the slip of paper and scanned it. He smiled evilly at Gato, and set him on his feet, brushing his suit off. "Well, thank you for the info, Mister Gato. I think you'll find that I can be very pleasant when I'm not killing people, so, here's an apology. I'm sorry for killing your thugs, and destroying your base. Okay?"

Gato shook nervously. "O-okay?"

Naruto's grin was extremely cheerful, considering the fact that he was covered with blood splatters, it was quite the horrifying site. "Good! And now, I am going to duck."

Before Gato could say, "Wha?" Naruto ducked, and his head was taken off by Zabuza's cleaver. Naruto grabbed the headless corpse by the shoulders and tossed it over the side of the bridge, where it sank like a stone in the dark waters underneath the bridge.

Zabuza and Naruto turned to each other, looked over the bridge covered in dead and dying thugs, and simultaneously began flipping through handsigns, calling out "Suiton: Suiryuudan Jutsu!" Two large dragons made out of water swept across the bridge, pulling the bodies, blood and dismembered limbs off the bridge and into the water, while having the fun side effect of drowning the remaining survivors.

Zabuza panted from the chakra expenditure, and looked over at Naruto, who was not. "How can you do that jutsu without getting tired?" He asked incredulously. Naruto shrugged.

"Meh, I've always been able to throw out jutsu without repercussions. It takes a lot to wind me, and even more to exhaust me."

Zabuza thought back to the fight, specifically the weird device that blew the brains out of several thugs. "Yo, Washi, what was that thing you used to kill those guys?"

Naruto gave him a dead-panned face, and an equal voice, "It's called a sword, Zabuza. You should know, you use one too."

Zabuza attempted to smack him playfully, and said, "No, I meant that thing in your wrist that made some of those guys' heads explode."

Naruto went, "Oh. It's a gun. It shoots small metal balls at high velocity. It could take out a chunin in one shot, and maybe a lower-level jonin."

"Then why don't you use it all the time?" Zabuza wondered.

Naruto shrugged. "It's a long-range weapon, it takes time to reload, and I prefer a more personal touch with my targets, y'know."

Zabuza laughed and held out a fist, which Naruto bumped with his own. "I can respect that!"

They made their way across the bridge, cutting an imposing figure to the villagers who had shown up in time to watch the slaughter. Covered in blood splatters, with Zabuza carrying Kubikiri across his shoulders, and Naruto with his hood hiding his face; they seemed like twin specters of death.

They stopped in front of the shell-shocked crowd, smiling cheerily.

"Boo!" the crowd jumped back as Zabuza shouted, then doubled over laughing. "Oh, man! You should have seen your faces!"

After Zabuza had quieted down, Naruto held up the slip of paper and shouted, "People of Wave! I have here the directions to Gato's hideout! Come with me, and reclaim your property!"

The people of Wave gave a massive cheer as they stampeded after Naruto, as he led them to their freedom.

…

They arrived at the empty hideout, and raided the place, and as the people reclaimed their possessions and money, Naruto and Team 7 and 10, along with Zabuza and Haku, made their way into Gato's office.

Naruto, using the slip of paper, opened the safe behind Gato's former desk, pulling large suitcases full of money from it. He handed the suitcases out to Tazuna, before opening one and counting the money inside. He then sealed a third of it into a scroll, and handed it to Anko, saying, "The amount this mission would cost, as an A-Rank." Then he took the other third and gave it to Zabuza, along with the other third in the suitcase.

"What's this for?" Zabuza asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Well that's the amount you were promised by Gato, right? The other half of that is for Kiri." He smirked. "Call it a wedding present to my fiancé in Kiri."

Zabuza nodded, but asked, "You never told me how you know Mei, let alone got engaged to her."

Anko and Ino nodded. "Yeah! How did you get engaged?" Anko asked.

Naruto shrugged. "During my travels with my sensei, we ended up in Kiri during the Civil War. We helped out for few months, assassinating important generals and soldiers in Yagura's army, until we finally killed him in open combat. It took, me, Mei, and sensei three hours of fighting to put the bastard down for good." Naruto pulled off one of his Cestus, showing the silver ring with what looked like a band of lava flowing through it. "She found out that I was an Uzumaki, and apparently the Terumi's and Uzumaki's have had a long line of alliances in the past, when Uzugakure was still around. In thanks for helping defeat Yagura, she offered to make a solid alliance with me, by taking her hand in marriage." He shrugged again. "I accepted, of course. It helps that she is a very sweet girl, and only older than me by a few years."

He put his glove back on, and looked around at the shocked faces of his team, and everyone else. Tazuna just kept happily counting the money that they liberated from Gato.

"What's so shocking about that?" Naruto asked.

Zabuza blinked rapidly. "You know that Yagura was a jinchuriki, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, and as I said before, he was a real bitch to kill. But, we did it anyways."

Kakashi just shook his head. "I have a feeling that you will keep surprising us, Naruto. I can feel it in my Icha, Icha."

…

The next week, after the bridge was finished, Naruto and co. stood at the end, in front of a cheering crowd.

Tazuna held his hands up, silencing the crowd. "As a voice for the people of Wave, we thank you, ninja! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for saving us and ending Gato's tyranny! And as a people, we would like to welcome you to Wave, anytime!"

The crowd cheered. Tsunami and Inari walked among the shinobi, giving hugs in thanks. When she reached Sasuke, Tsunami gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, making the Uchiha blush. Naruto laughed at Sasuke, until Tsunami came up to him and kissed him on the mouth, effectively silencing him.

She blushed, but smiled at them both. "Thank you guys for being there for me when those thugs showed up. If it hadn't been for you, I don't know what would have happened."

Inari was crying, but trying to wipe the tears away fiercely. Naruto knelt next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay to cry when you are happy, Inari. That was a brave thing you did, rallying the villagers to fight Gato." He muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Even though we killed all of them before you got here." He smiled at Inari, and bumped fists with the little man. "Keep being brave, get strong, and you'll make your mother proud."

Inari gave him a hug, and backed away, smiling at his mother.

The shinobi waved at the crowd one more time, and rode their cheers out onto the bridge.

A random civilian turned to Tazuna. "What are we going to call the bridge?"

Tazuna thought for a second, than announced, "I!...don't know, really."

Inari tugged Tazuna's pants, and said, "Hey, grandpa, what about, 'Flying Eagle Bridge'? Named after the guy who freed us from Gato?"

The crowd roared in agreement. Tazuna smiled and clapped his hands. "Then it's settled! The Flying Eagle Bridge it is! May it lead us into good times!"

…

**A/N: I forgot to say this last chapter, but…**

**Yo, Rixxel? I heard you like Karin, so I put Karin in my fic, so enjoy, mo'fucker!**

**Also, REVIEW! Really, if you can favorite or alert, you can take the minute and review!**


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